Drug company's toxic secret has Cambridge neighbors upset

A group of neigbors say they've been left in the dark about a pharmaceutical company's intention to increase its storage quota of an unknown chemical.

By Matt Dunning

A group of Area 4 residents say they've been left in the dark about a pharmaceutical company's intention to increase its storage capacity of an unknown chemical.

"Plain and simple, we want to know what’s going into that building, and what’s coming out of those exhaust vents,” said Market Street resident Peter Lindquist. “We want to know what it is they’re pumping out, and what is the risk in all this."

Idenix, the pharmaceutical company, says it isn’t required to make the information public, at the same time as it’s seeking a license from the city to store 12 times the volume of solvents currently in its Hampshire Street facility.

Earlier this year, Idenix — through its landlord, Metropolitan Life Insurance — applied to the city for a license to store a maximum of 2,000 gallons of Class 1 flammable solvents in its facility at the corner of Hampshire and Clark streets. Currently, the company is allowed to store 165 gallons of Class 1 solvents.

The company’s hearing in front of the License Commission, which began April 24, is scheduled to resume Sept. 25.

The sharp increase in volume has many Area 4 residents upset for many reasons. Principal among their concerns, Lindquist said, are the health and safety questions he said have gone largely unanswered.

What’s going into the buildings, according to Idenix spokesperson Teri Dahlman, could be a matter of federal law. Dalhman said Idenix would not reveal any information that may violate the Homeland Security Act, which includes restrictions on information regarding chemical facilities. A letter sent from the company’s assistant facilities director to the License Commission states that Idenix is currently working internally to determine an "effective and responsible manner in which to communicate information on solvents being used by researchers."

“Idenix wants to be a good neighbor,” Dahlman said. “We’re working with [the city] to make sure that this is done in an appropriate way.”

One chemical the neighbors said they’ve confirmed the company is currently storing in their facility — by sight only — is dichloromethane, a known carcinogen commonly used in pharmaceutical manufacturing, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Dahlman said she would neither confirm nor deny the neighbors’ claim.

Greg Tkac, who lives next to the Idenix facility on Hampshire Street, said the residents have never been told whether or not the presence of dichloromethane vapor — or any of the other chemicals — in the building’s exhaust could be hazardous to their health.

“I think we would all love to know nothing dangerous is coming out of that building,” Tkac said. “However, if that was in fact the case, then why not just come out and say that?”

Asked the same question, Dahlman offered no comment.

Earlier this summer, the city’s Public Health Department was asked to broker an agreement between Idenix and the residents. According to the department’s director of environmental health, Sam Lipson, Idenix agreed to conduct an independent risk assessment survey of its facility.

“It’s perfectly reasonable for [the residents] to be concerned,” Lipson said. “My sense is that there’s very little chance [the risk assessment survey] will generate any statistical lifetime risk to that neighborhood, but I won’t draw any conclusion until I’ve seen the assessment.”

Despite the agreement to perform the risk assessment, several of the abutters said they believe Idenix has every expectation that the license will be granted, whatever the results of the survey.

“It certainly seems as though they’ve got a lot invested in it,” Linda Lindquist said, pointing out several new ventilation ducts that have been added to the building’s rooftop since 2005.

“I think they feel as though we’ll slack off and go away,” she added. “Well, they’re wrong.”

“There is this feeling that they didn’t tell us what’s going on over there,” Tkac said. “Then there was this promise that they would check it out, but we look over at them now and it seems pretty clear they think they’re going to get the license. There isn’t much faith that this company is coming through and showing true colors.”

Matt Dunning of the Cambridge, Mass., Chronicle can be reached at mdunning@cnc.com

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